Fleming, director of the Des Moines Art Center, woke up "anxious, excited and thrilled" that after months of eagerly anticipating Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin Large,” which was finally going to be installed in the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

“We’ve seen lots and lots of images of the piece, but it looks so much better in person,” Fleming said. “It’s even more awe-inspiring than I had imagined.”

Fleming was among the myriad people who flocked to the Western Gateway to watch the newest piece's installation Tuesday. Construction workers at the brand-new Kum & Go headquarters could be seen taking breaks to sneak a peek.

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Brad Ball of the Des Moines Art Center raises his hands after the installation Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, of the aptly named "Pumpkin Large" by Yayoi Kusama, at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Rodney White/The Register

School children watch the installation Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, of the aptly named “Pumpkin Large” by Yayoi Kusama, at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.
Rodney White/The Register

Just after lunch, the Art Center’s installation crew started measuring where the steel pins in the bottom of the piece were and drilling corresponding holes into the pedestal on which the pumpkin would sit.

Once the measurements had been made and the holes drilled, the crane swung the 3,000-pound sculpture to the pedestal. The crew lined up the pins to the holes as though they were Lincoln logs and gently lowered the piece into place.

By about 2:30 p.m., the pumpkin was sitting in its place the Des Moines Art Center hopes it will remain for decades to come.

Mickey Ryan, chief registrar for the Des Moines Art Center, said the installation went “very well.”

“Every new work comes with its own set of challenges, but, with this piece, every major phase has gone as planned,” she said.

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School children watch the installation Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, of the aptly named “Pumpkin Large” by Yayoi Kusama, at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.
(Photo11: Rodney White/The Register)

The nearby Downtown School brought classes over to watch the installation process. Jennifer Mann’s 9- and 10-year-olds worked on observational drawings of the pumpkin as they asked Fleming questions about the work.

“We try to get out into the community as much as possible,” Mann said. “When they were redoing Grey’s Lake, we did water testing, and when we heard about this today, we had to come. We are focused on project-based learning, so we want to have firsthand experiences and learn from experts when possible.”

Landscaping still needs to be completed around the base of the sculpture's pedestal, but the piece itself is installed as it will stand (hopefully) forever, said Christine Crawford, spokeswoman for the Art Center.

After the pumpkin was mounted, the crowd quickly dwindled.

“It felt like we were the center of the universe for a while there,” Crawford said.